New Barangay Ginebra Head Coach, Frankie Lim’s debut may have gone quietly into the night after the Alaska Aces scored 108 points in a loss Friday night, but the mentor expressed his gratefulness for having a team that fought until the final buzzer.
The Kings never led in the match, but overcame huge deficits despite an undermanned unit that didn’t have Greg Slaughter, Japeth Aguilar, and Chris Ellis. The mere fact that the squad fought back from 23 points down and pulled to within 2 points in the second half was a testament to the amount of hard work Lim brought to the table since accepting the role.
“Okay naman effort nila. Kulang sa tao pero we don’t take that as an excuse. We froze in the first and got too tight. Pero medyo nakarecover. I got good performances from the guards and our import, and we fell short. Yun lang yun. Naibaba namin hanggang two points pero made bad decisions. We will just bounce back after this game. Hindi lang ako nasiyahan noong first quarter. Hindi kami naka-execute pero towards the second and third quarters. I can’t ask for more. They came back,” Lim quipped of his valiant wards.
“One thing nice also is our running game. At least, kita mo yung mga itinanim mo. Nagtrabaho naman sila. Tough luck, naunahan lang tayo. Hindi ko na iniisip yun dahil nakabalik naman kami.”
The Kings were not particularly bad from the field, shooting 45 percent overall, but  they allowed the Aces to shoot 51 percent, including 47 percent from three-point land.
Without its two towers, Ginebra was also outrebounded 47-34, although led in fastbreak points 22-6 mainly due to going small.
Lim added there is immense pressure surrounding him as the lead mentor of the most popular ball club in the league, although the squad always finds an edge with the crowd.
“Nakakapagod. Parang ako yung tumakbo sa loob. But I will get used to this. Malaking bagay yung fans namin. Yun ang sixth man namin e,” he said.
While there is disappointment, Lim says there is no other recourse but to move forward. He promises to put on an even better show for the fans once the team returns to full strength.
“We will try harder and makakasiguro naman sila we will be more exciting to watch and bubuhos talaga kami. Nakita niyo naman. We will just need support from the locals. I think we are alright. Looking at what I have, hindi na masama. They tried very hard and dun lang sa aspetong yun, happy ako.”
